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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: last · date · land · fine · shower · clip · wax · toast

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. last — to go on
  3. clip — to cut
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. last — finally
  7. clip — for paper
  8. land — ground
  9. wax — to grow
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. shower — to wash
  12. last — final
  13. land — to come down
  14. shower — rain
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. land — a country
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. clip — a video
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. fine — high quality
  23. toast — bread
  24. date — the fruit

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com